Tracy is a nationally recognized leader who has made a measurable impact working in and outside of government at the state and national levels. She leverages decades of experience at the intersection of public engagement, strategic communications, and policy on behalf of our clients to make change happen for organizations and the communities and people they serve. She has a rare combination of a diehard optimism, a pragmatic focus to get things done, and the strategy-know how to drive outcomes.

Over her career, Tracy has worked for and on behalf of numerous public interest organizations spanning issues from public health, state government, early childhood and elementary education, reproductive health, the first amendment, and many others. As Deputy Secretary for Policy and Communications at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Tracy led North Carolina’s communications and public outreach in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to increasing trust through the COVID pandemic, North Carolina had the highest primary vaccination rate of any southern state and its equitable approach to COVID-19 vaccination closed the primary vaccination gap between White and Hispanic populations and led to only a small gap between White and Black populations.

Prior to her work at NCDHHS, Tracy co-founded the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation. While there she built a statewide Pathways to Grade Level Reading framework, facilitating a multi-year effort with people across sectors, disciplines and political parties to develop shared measures and strategies that support children’s optimal development. Her work has won national recognition and been cited in research publications. She is known for creating the First 2000 Days, a public engagement campaign credited with building bipartisan support and shifting the conversation from “Why early childhood?” to “What should we do?” More than a decade later, it is still part of the vernacular.